EPT Grand Final: Ivan Freitez leads the way
Venezuelan poker sensation Ivan Freitez leads the hunt for the €1,500,000 first prize in Madrid
| by Jackhunter |  May, 12th 2011 |
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Above: Ivan Freitez leads the EPT Madrid and Season 7 Grand Final
The EPT Grand Final is being led by Venezuelan Ivan Freitez as it heads into the final table today.
The father-of-three from Caracas holds a commanding 2.8 million chip lead over Spaniard Juan Maceiras at the Casino Gran Madrid.
Just eight of the 686 players who started are left chasing the €1,500,000 first prize - which comes complete with a €16,000 bracelet from Shamballa Jewels and a free seat to tomorrow's EPT Champion of Champions tournament.
The first EPT Grand Final to be held away from Monte Carlo is now Freitez's to lose after a miracle flop on Day 4 gave him a huge chip lead.
Freitez four-bet all-in against previous chip leader Pedro Pellicer with A4 offsuit for 2,300,000 and was called by TT.
If Pellicer's hand had held up he would have had more than a quarter of the chips in play with just ten players left. It didn't.
The AA7 flop moved Freitez up to 4,500,000, put Pellicer on the brink of elimination - he only lasted another 20 minutes - and changed the course of the tournament.
Freitez, who runs his own transport business, does consider himself a poker pro but has had only one big win prior to this event - a $1,000 no-limit tournament at the Venetian last July, for $108,170.
And if anyone can ruin a double celebration - today is also his wedding anniversary - it's probably Brazilian poker pro Alex Gomes.
Short-stacked with 1,670,000, Gomes has a big job ahead of him to turn it round from Seat 8.
But, should he achieve it, he will becomes only the third player to land the elusive Triple Crown and hold World Series of Poker, WPT and EPT titles.
The final table, which begins at 2pm CET this afternoon, will be broadcast both on PokerStars.tv and on on various TV channels across Europe.
From 23:00, the broadcast will be with hole cards up - but for security reasons the action will be on a two hour delay.
The 'live' broadcast with cards up will occur simultaneously in five languages on TV networks in six different countries - a first for the European Poker Tour.
EPT Season 7 Grand Final
Final Table: Starting Chip Counts
Ivan Freitez Venezuela 5,995,000
Juan Maceiras Spain 3,150,000
Andrey Danilyuk Russia 2,645,000
Eugene Yanayt USA 2,420,000
Torsten Brinkmann Germany 1,875,000
Alex Gomes Brazil Team 1,670,000
Tamas Lendvai Hungary 1,655,000
Andrew Li USA 1,210,000
